A proposed ballot initiative to encourage solar energy use in Florida drew some attention when it was unveiled in January by having tea party activists among its leaders.

But Tuesday, the Florida Faith & Freedom Coalition countered that by announcing that it had signed up plenty of conservative opposition to the 2016 ballot measure backed by Floridians for Solar Choice.

The faith group sent a stinging letter to solar advocates urging against including mandates and subsidies to promote the power source which is a potential threat to the state’s huge and politically potent investor-owned utilities.

Jim Kallinger, a former Florida legislator who is now president and chairman of the Florida Faith & Freedom Coalition, said the constitutional route is rife with potential problems.

“The price of getting it wrong is much too high,” said Kallinger, warning the measure could result in higher utility rates for lower-income customers.

The ballot measure doesn’t specifically outline mandates or subsidies for solar energy. Instead, it is aimed at eliminating current law that makes Florida one of five states that denies citizens and businesses a chance to buy solar power electricity from companies that are not an investor-owned or government-run utility.

Leaders of the Florida Faith & Freedom Coalition and the First Coast Tea Party, who are among those fighting the ballot proposal, said they are not drawing any financial support from the state’s big utilities.

“We want businesses to stand on their own,” said Billie Tucker, a founder of the First Coast Tea Party.

Those supporting the ballot measure include an unusual mix from the political left and right. Among them are Clean Water Action, Evangelical Environmental Network, Greenpeace USA, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club Florida, the Tea Party Network, Christian Coalition of America and Conservatives for Energy Freedom.